One Final Honorable Mention

Mephisto Mori/ January 5, 2014/ Video Games/ 0 comments

So I recently completed my review of an entire age of gaming.  I talked about the best games, the most disappointing game, and the most overrated games.  I even did an honorable mention list – which, contrary to what you may believe, wasn’t a personal favorite category; were that the case Alan Wake would’ve been on there.  There was a game that I didn’t mention then that I would really like to add to the list…

That game is Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena.  The reason is because no one played Escape from Butcher’s Bay during the PS2 era (when the game originally debuted).  It gave us a second chance to play one of the best movie tie-in games of all time and a damn good game in general.

I call Dark Athena a success because it did something every Director’s Cut of a movie claims but doesn’t deliver on.  It allows us to experience something old in a brand new way.  I did play Escape from Butcher’s Bay at the time it was released and it was one of those games that ended where it kinda should’ve but left you feeling a little empty.  Dark Athena was the cherry on top that really slaked your lust.  It was just enough to fill you up, without feeling bloated.

It also hearkens back to something I conceded the point on… FPS’s added “RPG elements” sometime this generation. That’s a lie.  FPS’s added advancement and load out mechanics.   Escape from Butcher’s Bay had full on quest hubs… the most RPG of RPG elements.  When it gets right down to it – RPGs aren’t about grinding and leveling – RPGs are about advancing stories, and adding layers to the narrative through sidequests.  Killing a dozen extra noobs online for the ability to run 3% faster or equip the big gun isn’t good enough to call it an “RPG element.”

 

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